From the award-winning producers behind Baby Reindeer, Fleabag and Moulin Rouge! The Musical, the world premiere of ROLEPLAY arrives at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as a bold, provocative and darkly comic new work interrogating sex, power and the economics of attention.
Written and performed by Hannah Reilly, and directed by Paige Rattray, this ferocious one-woman show begins as a sharp comedy before evolving into a gripping psychological thriller. It follows a struggling feminist podcaster who reinvents herself as a provocative “slutfluencer” in a bid for fame, only to find herself increasingly consumed by the persona she has created.
Blending humour with unsettling insight, ROLEPLAY dives headfirst into the contradictions of modern feminism, where empowerment, identity and capitalism collide. As the lines between performance and reality blur, the show explores the pressure to package the self as content in an age dominated by social media, podcast culture and influencer economies.
At its core, the production is a timely exploration of visibility and control, examining how intimacy can be commodified and how authenticity becomes curated. Through its sharp writing and dynamic solo performance, ROLEPLAY captures a generation navigating power, consent and self-presentation in an increasingly performative world.
Hannah Reilly said, “I’m beyond thrilled to unleash ROLEPLAY at the Edinburgh Fringe with my dream collaborators. Writing this play has been equal parts joy and terror, which is the beauty of trying to make work as fearlessly as you can. When you have to crawl into bed for an entire weekend after submitting a draft, you know you’re onto something. I can’t wait to see what happens when it meets an audience.”
Director Paige Rattray added, “ROLEPLAY is raw and unpredictable. It’s the kind of piece that says the things people are thinking but are too scared to say out loud. Hannah has written something that pushes into uncomfortable territory with real precision, exposing the way we perform, desire and hide in equal measure.”
The production marks a major collaboration between Francesca Moody Productions and Global Creatures, bringing together a proven track record of developing groundbreaking new work with large-scale international theatrical expertise. Following in the footsteps of hit productions that have gone on to global success, ROLEPLAY looks set to be one of the standout premieres of this year’s Fringe.
ROLEPLAY runs at Summerhall (Tech Cube Zero) from 7 – 31 August (not 11, 18, 25 August) at 17:50. Tickets are on sale here
